Another World Story

Day One: Another World Heroes

Days passed after his 18th birthday, on Jan 4th. It is now the second semester, and it's time to go back to school.

In the past days after his parents left for their business trip, John read the books his mother gifted him. He first started with the -atlases- then he read the -marketing 101s- then the -Novels- which was the most interesting one among the books there.

Time was limited, and he was only able to finish in the 3rd book from the -Novels-category.

And now he is reading a book from the -Pocket Book-category as he walks towards his school.

He enrolled in a public school despite his parents saying he should enroll in a private one, but he insisted on a public one and said that they should just put the tuition for a private school in his bank account so that he would have money to pay up for his university tuition, which was accepted by his parents.

"Yow!" a familiar voice was heard from his left as he was reading, it was the heartthrob, the girl killer of their school, his best friend, Alex Mendez.

"Yow" John replied.

"How's your winter vacation? Anything new happened? Oh, by the way, belated happy birthday bro!" Alex happily said, then he reached out a closed fist, it was for a fist bump.

"Thanks", John readily bumped fists with him and answered his questions "The only noteworthy thing was Christmas and my birthday..."

"Oh? Something new happened last Xmas? And your birthday? Hmm... Mind telling the story?" with an amused look on his face, Alex probed John to tell the story.

Among John's friends, Alex is the only one who knows the things that happened in the past 11 years of his lonesome life. That is because Alex is one of his childhood friends, who he met when he was 4 years old.

"I'm... amazed, aunt Senna was able to know a gift to give you? I wonder how she knew you liked books," Alex wondered, which was answered by John as he was expecting the question.

"Apparently she saw me during X-mas eve reading books while the rest of them were enjoying the night. I was on the veranda that night and had nothing to do, so I read the book you lent me. Oh, by the way, here", John reached out to one of the pockets in his bag and pulled out a book and gave it to Alex.

"It was a nice story, though it's a typical Another World story, the plot and character development were amazing," he said as Alex received the book from him.

"I know, right? This is my favorite novel, you know!" Alex cheerfully exclaimed.

"You already said that a few times..." John said as he closed the book he was reading and entered the school gate, "I just realized... the main character of the book is the same as you, Alex" he added as they continued walking.

"The same as me? What do you..., ah! No bro! You know it's a misunderstanding, right!? No one's interested in me from the beginning!" Alex exclaimed as he denied what John said.

"No one's interested... my ass! Why do you think they would confess to you?!" John replied as he stopped for a minute and punched Alex's shoulder and walked up the stairs.

"Ouch... Maybe they're just playing around, you know those betting things..." Alex said as he walked up the stairs and massaged the shoulder that was punched.

"... Betting? 20+ different girls? Some from a different school and you said they were just betting?"

Haa...

As John let out a sigh, Alex continued his explanation.

"And most importantly, I'm not that good-looking, and I'm not that smart either. I'm not that good at sports either... And John, you're better than me."

"This moron...haa..." John sighed for the umpteenth time, which made Alex tilt his head to the left. John saw this and explained.

"Alex," he said, "If I was better than you, I would be the one being confessed to, not you, and you know more than anybody, no one! As in no one! Had ever confessed that they like me. You know that, right?"

"Also, don't degrade yourself too much. Yeah, you're not good at sports, you're right about that, but you're amazing when it comes to interactions and arts. Also, you're better than me at studying. You wouldn't be the school rep and class rep if you're not, and also you're more good-looking than any boy in school. Why would you be called a heartthrob if not? Besides, if you degrade yourself too much, it's like you're mocking others who are not on your level, have confidence, like when you're in a debate, not arrogance but self-esteem," he added as he entered their classroom.

"See? You're really better than me", Alex muttered with a smile full of amazement.

"Huh?" John turned his head, wondering what Alex meant. He couldn't really understand how Alex connected what he had just said with being better than him.

"Nothing!" Alex smiled cheerfully as he followed John and sat beside him.

John looked at his friend for some time but decided to give up. "Analyzing it would be useless, I wouldn't understand it anyway".

John found his seat in the front and Alex followed, just right beside him. As the two sat down and as there seemed to be plenty of time before the teacher arrived, the two engaged in heated conversation about fantasy novels until eventually, as the representative of the class, someone called Alex in front of the podium.

"Class rep, what do you suggest we do for the upcoming festival?" A female student voiced. She looked at Alex and then at John before shifting her gaze back to Alex.

"The festival? Alright, I'll be there in a moment," saying so, Alex nodded to John before going to the front of the class.

John was now left alone. He sat in the front row seat to the very left of the class and most of his classmates did not like that area, so he was alone for the moment. John glanced at his watch, there were still 40 minutes before the class started and each one of John's classmates was already inside the room. The doors are closed for both the back door exit and front entrance. Alex is at the front and announcing things that would be needed for the upcoming festival in the second semester.

John watched his best friend talk and nodded to himself.

'His aura changed... He seems to have more confidence when talking, it's more than usual... Did something happen?'

John thought as he watched the surroundings, the other students were engaged in different kinds of conversations, some were talking about their short vacation, where they went, what they did, so on and so forth. Some, on the other hand, were listening to Alex speak in the front, with eyes that were so focused one would wonder what kind of serious conversation they were in. Some, just like John, were silently immersed in their own worlds.

'There's still 30 minutes left, I should read a few more pages before the teacher comes' John took out the book he was reading and opened it at the last page he was on, and then he set his watch to alarm after 25 minutes passed.

He immersed himself in reading. Seconds passed, then minutes, and before he knew it, everything around him had gone silent. John was so focused on reading that everything around him seemed to disappear, he was like in another world.

*ttring...ttring...ttring...*

25 minutes passed as he was reading, and his alarm started to ring.

John was startled for a moment, before remembering that he was at school and immediately put down the small book. He then looked at the front of the class, on the podium where the teacher was supposed to be, nothing. John saw that no one was at the podium and wanted to ask a classmate next to him when he finally noticed that no one was there.

He looked around and saw that there was no one inside the room except for him.

There are the bags of his classmates, the blackboard that has recommendations written on it. But the door was closed.

'Where are they?' John asked himself.

He was so immersed in reading that he didn't notice the changes in his surroundings.

'Maybe they went down to the gymnasium...? No. Alex would have told me, then where are they?' John continued to ask and answer his own questions. He then stood up and tried to open the door of their classroom but...

*cluck..* *cluck...*

The knob won't turn.

John became pensive and tried to pull the knob as he turned it, but no matter how much strength he exerted, the door just wouldn't budge. He then tried the other door, to no avail. Both front and back doors were closed.

'Is this some kind of prank?' John thought to himself, but he disregarded the idea. He may have a certain status on the student council, but in their class he didn't have much of a presence besides being known as Alex's best buddy. So he was sure that his classmates wouldn't try any pranks on him. What could they even gain from doing so? Plus, Alex is also not around, meaning that if this was a prank he would be part of it.

'That guy is too straightforward to even do any pranks' John said, shaking his head. 'Then what in the world is happening?'

John had already looked at the windows, but he couldn't see any changes in his surroundings, though the windows were shut tight just like the doors, it was like someone or something was trying to prevent any entry or exit. Or maybe both.

John decided to sit back in his chair. He opened the small book again, he then closed his eyes as he took a deep breath.

'I'm not having any of this sh*t.' He thought before opening his eyes once again as he immersed himself in the story. But before he could even read the first sentence, words that were so familiar to him suddenly appeared in his mind.

'Why did that book suddenly pass through my mind?' He asked.

-Another World Heroes - was the title of the book Alex lent him. It was a book that features a typical Another World (Isekai) story, and it passed through his mind when this abnormality was occurring.

'Was it a coincidence?'

It was right to ask it.

Modern-day with modern technology and the answer he came up with was a fantasy story in a book?

'It's absurd,' he thought.

But then he wondered. "What if? What if they were transported to another world?... But then again... I was with them... So why?"

'So why was I left alone?' is what he wanted to question, but then he realized. "I'm not fitted to be a hero..." when that realization hit him, his gaze seemed to have turned somewhat dull for a moment before John shook his head and immersed himself back in the book he was previously reading.

'Even in this kind of thing I was left alone...' he thought to himself. 'I guess I'll wait for something to happen or wait for the teachers to appear. If they did though, there would be a lot of headache-inducing questions...'. Sigh.

For the umpteenth time, John sighed again as he buried his face in the small book, reading the words in it and immersed himself in the story, trying to forget about his current situation.

Time passed, John managed to finish the book, but there were still no signs of any teachers appearing. As that was the only book he brought today, John decided to lay his head on the armrest, resting. John was unaware that the time had stopped inside the room the moment the alarm went off.

John fell asleep quite easily and began to dream. A dream so familiar that he had enough of it. Yet, this time, something was different. He heard a voice. It's not the same voice he hears in his dreams, but it's strangely familiar to him. It keeps talking, but he can't understand it.

Buried in his dream, John was not aware of the things happening outside of it. He didn't see, as a star-like diagram was drawn below him at eight different points, and light burst forth from it and engulfed him. But before doing so, he finally understood what the voice was saying.

'Right. You're not fitted to be a hero, and you'll never be one. But it doesn't mean that I'll leave you behind... Kaiser of the %$!&@'.